Game of Thrones Book Tag

Winter has arrived! At least, it has in Westeros. To console myself over having a longer wait for the Season 7, I thought this tag would help.

I found the Game of Thrones book tag at Author Kayla Dore, and it was created by Claire Rousseau on BookTube. Thank you both for doing this tag. There is a new Game of Thrones book tag floating around, but I saw this one first.

Arya: A character that’s all about revenge

I have to go with Nyx from Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge. Nyx’s father betrothed her to the local evil ruler, Ignifex. Ever since then, her sole purpose is to destroy Ignifex. Unlike Arya, her desire for revenge is less personal. Her family trained her to kill Ignifex, so this motivation is forced on her. But this is her goal throughout the book. There is no question about that.

Varys: A book featuring political intrigue

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard is full of political intrigue because a Red, Mare Barrow, has to pretend to be a Silver, one of the nobility with actual silver blood and superpowers, because she manages to have Silver-like powers that no other Red has. Playing as a Silver, Mare has to learn and experience the political machinations of the Silvers running her life. She also tries to “play the game of thrones,” but this is not the time for amateur hour.

Joffrey: A villain you just love to hate

I could go with the obvious, Voldemort, but I have a special hate for Sebastian Morgenstern (a.k.a. Jonathan Christian Morgenstern and Sebastian Verlac). The best villains that I love to hate are evil, but I like seeing how they became evil villains. I read his backstory in the Mortal Instruments story. I loathe him. I cheered for his death almost as much as Joffrey’s.

I love Cassandra Jean’s renditions of Sebastian, but I wish she had not written “Jonathan Morgenstern” on the cards. Since I do not have permission to use the images, I selected the cover that I think has Sebastian on it.

Jon Snow: A coming of age story

The Changeling of Finnistuath by Kate Horsley is my choice. Though the novel is not entirely about Gregory’s coming-of-age, it spends a lot of the book focusing on his childhood and then the revelation of that “he” is actually a woman. We see the development from childhood to adulthood and his/her changing gender identity. This novel fits the bill with forcing the character to go through both the physical and psychological changes, and all of the changes are unexpected for Gregory.

Jaime & Cersei: A ship you just can’t get behind

Malec. It’s not that I think Magnus and Alec are not right for each other, but I never understood the fascination for this canon relationship. One problem with it for me is that I don’t like Alec. Maybe I should reread the series a third time and try to get into the hype, but I doubt that will change anything. Maybe watching Shadowhunters would, but I lost interest in the show after the second episode.

Lady Olenna: A kickass older character

As I think about it, I rarely see an older character who is kick-ass in young adult novels. There is the wise, old helper or mentor, but I don’t often see them do anything particularly “kick-ass.”

I think I’ll go with Sophie from Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. While she is not actually an old lady, she is given all the aches, pains and appearances of one thanks to the Witch of the Waste. Becoming an old lady freed her real self. She’s sassy as an old lady. She handles the witch, Howl, and Michael well. You don’t want to mess with this woman. Oddly, the Witch of the Waste freed her.

Dany: A book featuring dragons

I pickSeraphina by Rachel Hartman. I like Hartman’s take on dragons. A lot of the dragon books I’ve read go for riding dragons or at least raising them. This one impressed me with dragons getting involved in human politics by forcing themselves into a human shape. Seraphina herself is half-dragon, which increases tensions between the humans and dragons. Another interesting spin is the xenophobia toward dragons instead of using dragons only for power.

Sansa: A character you grew to love

A character I’ve grown to love is Sansa Stark, the television version. I’ve only read the first book in A Song of Ice and Fire, and I didn’t like her at all. The Sansa I have followed over the years is in the HBO adaptation. I grew from disliking her to pitying her and from pitying her to loving her. She’s grown into a wise, tactful woman, and I love that she has found strength in herself to stand up to her tribulations. I hope that the TV show reflected the books accurately with her character.

Melisandre: A favorite magic system

I’ve avoided it long enough. My favorite magic system is the Harry Potter world’s magic system. I love that there is more than one magical species, and each species has its own strengths with magic. The wand lore and spells are fun and make me want to learn more about it. I love the creation of the whole world.

Fan fiction makes it better because others expand the universe and consider the greater potential.

Tyrion: A character whose weapon is their mind

Galbatorix is the best example I can think of where his mind is literally a weapon. He has the strongest mental powers in the Alagaësia as demonstrated in the last book. Every magic user and dragon has some mental power, but Galbatorix is infamous for his magic and mental skill. His power is terrifying.

If you like Game of Thrones or would like to participate in this tag, you are officially tagged.